Improvement in lamps



W. G. A. BONWILL.

Lamp.

No. 42,269. PatentedA April 12, 1864.

`just it, all as will be hereinafter fully ex- WILLIAM G. A. BONWILL,

"1 armar Fries.

0F DOVER, DELAWARE.

IMPROVEMENT IN LAM PS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 42,269, dated April l2, 1854.

ToaZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM G. A; Bon. WILL, of Dover, in the'county of Kent and State of Delaware, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inl Lamps, and-I do hereby declareithe following to be a full and exact description of thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a detached perspective viewofthe collar to behereinafter described. Fig; 2 is a plan of my invention with a portion of the parts removed. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the burner entire in thelines x x, Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures, all of which are drawnon an enlarged scale to represent the invention more clearly.

This invention consists, first, in a novel construction of collar, by means of whic hair may be supplied to the interior of the chimney above the cone in any desired quantity, said collar sliding either horizontally or vertically to graduate the capacity of the openings as required; second, in an improved device for elevating the wick and retaining the same in any position at which it may be desired to adplained.

In order that others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains may be enabled to fully understand and use the same, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the accompanying drawings, A may represent the cup; B, the cone, and U a collar. This collar C operates in connection with a ring, O', which fits within the collar C, and which is formed with a flange, c, upon which the collar C rests, said iange adapting both collar and ring to be more readily secured upon or within the cup A by means ot' a ipf'ng-catch, a, wlich bears iirmly against. the liange c so as to retain the ring C' in a proper position when secured upon the cup. The collar G and ring C are each provided with a continuous series of openin gs, c which, by turning the collar C, may be placed in partial or full communication with each other or entirely closed, which turning of the collar G may be facilitated by the employment of a finger-piece, c2. On the upper part ofthe collar C, and above the openings c', is formed a ledge,c3, upon which thelamp-chimney is designed to-rest. When the lamp isto be lighted, the collar C is tobe turned so as to admit the full quantity oficoolair to the interior of the lamp-chimney above the cone` the chimney in excess of theoutcr, froml they concentration of heat which must occur when the lamp is iirst lighted, experience having fully justifiedr this conclusion. By the use of this improvement the inner wall-is shielded all around by a mediumof air of` nearlythe same temperature as `that in contact with the outer wall which passes rapidly between the flame and innerwalhso that this medium hasrst tofbe heated before the inner wall, which, being very slow, gives the chimney ample time to be heated, so nearly as soon externally as internally as' to remove the greatest cause for the cracking of chimneys. After the chimney has thus been allowed to become gradually heated, the openings c are to be closed far enough to admit only of that amount of air ealmlated to produce perfect combus tion, which is most perfectly gained by this graduated fixture, increasing thereby the size of ilame at least one-fourth as well as preserving chimneys. The collar C and ring C may be securely connected together, and the movement of the former upon the latter limited by a rivet or rivets, c4. The collar C G c may be permanently attached to the lamp, or it may be made and sold separately to be applied to lamps already in use.

D represents a spiral spring secured to the fioor of the cup A, or to both it and the wicktube E, and in connection with whirh spring works the catch u, by which the cone B, as wel] as the collar C C', may be held within the eup A. The Wick-tube is formed in ltwo sections, E E', the former of which is rigidly attached to the floor of the cup, while the section E is adapted to be slid vertically within or upon the former by a ratchet-wheel, c, which is keyed upon a shaft, e', and which works in the teeth of a rack, c2, formed upon the sliding tube E.

The object of this improvement is that when a small light is desired, the tube E may be run up to nearly the top of the cone B, which point is fixed so that the tube will not go above,) so that the air in passing out of the aperture in the top of the cone B must come in'contact with the flame to produce perfeet combustion, and thereby get rid of that nuisance which always occurs when the flame is low in all lamps heretofore made and in use, which smell ofoilis caused by the wick being so far below that point where lit must bc for the amount of air to come in contact with it to producle'that Vcomplete combustion which is effected when the ilameis the largest. Thus you can make of any large lampanight-lamp, and one free from the unpleasant odor. For a full flame the tube is to be turned down to its lowest point. A milled head, e3, may be employed to facilitate the operation of the sliding-tube E.

F represen ts a strong spiral spring, secured to the stationary wick-tube E, or between it and the bottom of the cup A, and supporting and pressing inward a shaft, F, upon which are rigidly secured the wicke-levatin g ratchets ff, whichbeing pressed through suitable slots in the tube E constitute sustainers for the wick,as wellas elevators therefor. The spring Foccupies a very small space and provides great'elasticity within a very limited compass. Upon the end of shaft F is secured a milled head,f, by turning which the wick may beelevated or lowered with facility.

l'lhe chimney-prescrvcr above described may be used upon any ofthe lamp-burners now nchimney immediately above the cone or de-V ector from the medium outside (without first passing into the cup of burner) to prevent the chimney from being cracked or broken by sudden heat.

2. Being aware* that springs have before been employed in various Ways to press the wick and the elevating-wheels into close contact, I disclaim this general principle; but I claim the specific combination and arrangement of the spring F, spur-wheels f f, shaft F', and slotted wick-tube E, when the said spring is firmly secured by its lower part, f, to the iloor of the shell A, is formed with a double coil, J2 J2, and rises in two standards, jf, embracing the shaft F in close proximity with the respective spur-wheels f f, as herein describe. l

WM. G. A. BoNwILL. Witnesses:

It. H. MAYHEW, UHARLEs D. SMITH. 

